Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres, Ili Prefecture shares a -long border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. There are nine ports of entry in Ili Prefecture at the national level, notably Khorgas. Directly administered regions within the prefecture cover 56,622 square kilometres and have a population of 4,930,600. Kazakhs are the second largest ethnicity in the prefecture after the Han Chinese, and make up a little over a quarter of the population.
Ili is the only prefecture-level division that has other prefecture-level divisions under its administration. The term "sub-provincial autonomous prefecture" has often been applied to Ili, but the term has no legal basis under Chinese law and is a misnomer.
History
Early history
Before the advent of the Qin dynasty, Ili was inhabited by the Wusuns, a tributary tribe of the Huns. The Wusuns were driven away in the 6th century AD by the northern Xiongnu, who established the First Turkic Khaganate in 552. The area later became a dependency of Dzungaria. During the Tang dynasty, the khanate became the Protectorate General to Pacify the West of the Tang Empire.Ili came under the control of the Uyghur Khaganate in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Qara Khitai in the 12th century, and Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Oirats, specifically the Dzungars, conquered Ili at the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century.
Qing dynasty
The Dzungar Khanate controlled both Dzungaria and the Ili basin until 1755, when the region was conquered by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty under the Qianlong Emperor. Having defeated the Dzungars in the Dzungarian and Ili basins, as well as the Afaqi Khojas in Kashgaria, the Qing court decided to make the Ili basin the main base of their control in Xinjiang.In the 1760s, the Qing built nine fortified towns in the Ili basin:
| Original Chinese name | Chinese | Turki name | Modern name | Notes |
| Huiyuan Cheng | 惠遠城 | Huiyuan Town in Huocheng County | Old Huiyuan was the residence of the General of Ili from 1765 to 1866. New Huiyuan was the residence of the General of Ili from 1894 to 1912. Historically known as New / Manchu Kulja or Ili. | |
| Ningyuan Cheng | 寧遠城 | Yining | Also was known as Old Kulja or Taranchi Kulja. County seat of Ningyuan County and Yining County. | |
| Huining Cheng | 惠寧城 | Bayandai Town within Yining, some 10 to 18 kilometres to the west of Yining's city centre | ||
| Taleqi Cheng | 塔勒奇城 | Within Huocheng County | ||
| Zhande Cheng | 瞻德城 | Qingshuihe Town in Huocheng County | ||
| Guangren Cheng | 廣仁城 | Lucaogou Town in Huocheng County, NE of Qingshuihe | ||
| Gongchen Cheng | 拱宸城 | Khorgas City | ||
| Xichun Cheng | 熙春城 | Area commonly referred to as Chengpanzi. Located in Hanbin Township within Yining, a few kilometres west of the city centre. | ||
| Suiding Cheng | 綏定城 | Shuiding Town, county seat of Huocheng County since 1966 | Also known as New / Manchu / Chinese Kulja. Renamed Shuiding in 1965. Residence of the General of Ili from 1762 to 1765 and 1883 to 1894. County seat of Suiding County and Shuiding County. |
File:万国来朝图.jpg|thumb|Ili delegates in Peking in 1761. From Ten Thousand Nations Coming to Pay Tribute.
Huiyuan Cheng, as the residence of the General of Ili, the chief commander of Qing troops in Xinjiang, became the administrative capital of the region. It was provided with a large penal establishment and a strong garrison. This city was called "New Kulja", "Manhcu Kulja" or "Chinese Kulja" by foreigners to distinguish it from Ningyuan / Yining, known as "Old Kulja" or "Taranchi Kulja".
The first General of Ili was Ming Rui. The Qing tradition, unbroken until the days of Zuo Zongtang in the 1870s, was to only appoint Manchus as officials in Xinjiang.
During the Muslim revolt of 1864, Dungans and Taranchis of the area formed the Taranchi Sultanate. Huiyuan Cheng was the last Qing fortress in the Ili basin to fall to the rebels. The Dungan rebels massacred most of the city's inhabitants; Governor General Mingsioi assembled his family and staff in his mansion and blew it up, dying under its ruins.
The insurrection led to the occupation of the Ili basin by the Russians in 1871. Ten years later, part of the territory was returned to China in accordance with the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg.
In October 1884, the Qing government officially approved the establishment of Xinjiang Province and the local political system in Ili consequently went through major reforms. The Amban and Baig systems were abolished and replaced by circuit, urban prefecture, prefecture, and county systems. The position of General of Ili was renamed Ili Garrison General and its responsibilities were greatly reduced. The Ili Garrison General would only oversee the military affairs of Ili and Tacheng instead of the whole of Xinjiang, the latter responsibility being delegated to the newly created position of Xinjiang Grand Coordinator. The Ili Garrison General was based in Huiyuan Town.
Yita Circuit was formed in Ili and Tacheng in 1888, as a subdivision of Xinjiang Province. It was headquartered in Ningyuan County. Yita Circuit was divided into Ili Prefecture, Tacheng Directly Administered Division, and Jinghe Directly Administered Division. Altay region was formed from Khovd in 1904.
Modern history
The Xinhai Revolution broke out on 10 October 1911. Under the leadership of Yang Zuanxu, a general of the Ili New Army, an armed rebellion against the Qing broke out on 7 January 1912. The rebels occupied Huiyuan Town and killed Zhi Rui, the Ili Garrison General. On 12 February 1912, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established in Beijing, and on 15 March, it ordered the Xinjiang Grand Coordinator, Yuan Dahua, to end Qing rule in Xinjiang.With the end of hostilities between Qing and Republican forces, the position of Grand Coordinator of Xinjiang was abolished and replaced with the position of Military Governor of Xinjiang. Guang Fu, Zhi Rui's predecessor as Ili Garrison General, was appointed Xinjiang's first military governor. On 25 April, Yuan Dahua was forced to resign as Grand Coordinator of Xinjiang. On 18 May, Yang Zengxin was recommended for the position of Military Governor of Xinjiang. On 8 July, the Qing and Republican governments signed a peace agreement, which stipulated that the position of Ili Garrison General would be replaced by the position of Defence Governor of Ili, under the direct supervision of the Republican government in Beijing. Guang Fu was subsequently appointed as the first Defence Governor of Ili. The agreement also recognised Yang Zengxin as the top military and political authority in all of Xinjiang.
In August 1912, the Republican government adjusted Ili's administrative divisions. The Defence Governor of Ili headquarters were established in Huiyuan Town, the Counsellor's in Tacheng, and the Business Executive's in Altay. Yita Circuit was retained to govern local civil affairs; it was placed under the administration of the Defence Governor.
The position of Ili Defence Governor became vacant after Guang Fu died of illness on 1 February 1914. Yang Zengxin flew to Beijing to petition the Beiyang government to appoint Yang Feixia as Guang Fu's replacement. The appointment was approved by Beijing, and the administrative jurisdiction of the position was transferred from the central government to the government of Xinjiang Province. Yita Circuit was then divided into two circuits, Ili and Tacheng, in 1916. The Circuit Governor of Tacheng replaced the Counsellor of Tacheng with the establishment of Tacheng Circuit.
In 1919, the Beiyang government placed the Altay Chief under the jurisdiction of the government of Xinjiang Province and Ashan Circuit was established from the Altay region. In August 1939, by decree of the Beiyang government, the mingyan and centenari administrative divisions were abolished and replaced with district and township divisions. Kazakh pastoral affairs were gradually integrated into local government services.
Ili Prefecture was established in 1943, with 11 counties and Xinyuan Division under its administration. The 11 counties were Yining, Suiding, Khorgas, Gongliu, Tekes, Gongha, Ningxi, Jinghe, Bole, Wenquan and Zhaosu. In December 1953, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region was established. It was declared a prefecture-level division under the jurisdiction of Xinjiang Province, with the three prefectures of Ili, Tacheng, and Altay under its administration. Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture was created in July 1954 from the counties of Bole, Jinghe, and Wenquan, three counties of Ili Prefecture. Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region was renamed Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture on 5 February 1955.
During the Yi–Ta incident from March to May 1962, a mass exodus of 14,000 people from Ili Prefecture occurred. Chinese citizens, predominantly Kazakhs, left through the border port of Korgas, driven by deteriorating living conditions in Xinjiang and rumours of Soviet citizenship. To compensate for the loss in manpower brought about by the exodus, thousands of Bingtuan soldiers were relocated to northern Xinjiang from the region's interior. The Chinese government also encouraged the migration of hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese youth from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. By 1969 the number of Han Chinese in Ili Prefecture had reached 1.2 million, outnumbering the number of Kazakhs and Uyghurs combined.